Carthage Elementary School District 317

Thank you for the recipe submissions; ordering the cookbook is available! The last day for orders to be guaranteed before Christmas is Friday, October 31st. You may return the attached form, which was also sent home with your student or the QR code on the attached flyer. Thank you for your support of PTO and CESD 317!

I apologize for the early message. Due to the weather, there will be no school on Friday, December 12, 2025. All activities, games, and practices will be decided later today. Thank you and have a safe weekend.

Boys basketball game canceled due to weather. Please drive safe and I apologize for the late notice!

This line dancing unit at CMS has been so fun! Today we had a visiting dance teacher to share new moves.

Carthage Primary & Middle Families: We are still in need of volunteers for our Hot Cocoa Run coming up next week. If you’re able to help, we would love to have you join us and make this fun tradition a success for our students. Please use the link below to sign up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12xko6H7lEMsX2v-NcmBGT2ffkCNdpUXaarFtobcRacM/edit Thank you for supporting our Blueboys & Bluegirls!

Congratulations to Elliotte for receiving the Sportsmanship Award and to our 8th-grade Regional Champions!

📣 Carthage Primary School Winter Concert Join us Wednesday, December 10th at 6 PM in the Illini West High School gym (600 Miller St). 🎶 All PreK–4th grade students will perform, youngest to oldest. Please have students dress nicely—festive holiday accessories are welcome! Doors open at 5:40 PM. Please supervise your child until they meet their teacher. For the best experience, avoid entering or exiting while students are singing. The concert lasts about one hour, with time afterward for group photos. Please silence devices and help us keep the gym quiet and respectful. We can’t wait to see you there! ❄️🎄

The 8th grade regional championship game will be played on Saturday, December 6th 10:00am at IW. Come to IW to cheer on the Bluegirls against Camp Point tonight at 6:00p.m. and hopefully again on Saturday.

Attention 5th and 6th-grade girls!
Complete the following link before December 18th if you are interested in playing Volleyball this year.
https://forms.gle/kMhMqWuu6HWXYT7GA
Coach Burling will reach out to interested students after sign-up closes.

The menu has been updated for tomorrow: Breakfast: strawberry cocoa puff parfait and sunflower seeds Lunch: Chicken drumsticks Mashed potatoes & gravy Baked Beans Roll

Carthage ESD 317 Families: School will be canceled tomorrow, December 2, 2025, due to inclement weather. Please stay safe, and thank you for your understanding.

At least one team from each scheduled regional game cannot play tonight due to the incoming weather, so all 8th grade girls basketball games are cancelled tonight. We are working with teams and officials to reschedule the games to tomorrow at the same times. Further athletic updates will be made on our app and IESA.

CESD #317 schools will release students due to incoming inclement weather at 12:30 p.m. We will be utilizing our 1/2 day bus and shuttle schedule. PM preschool is cancelled. Shuttle bus will run at 12:20p.m. As of the time of this message, regional basketball games will play as scheduled. After communicating with LaHarpe, they will not be sending their team to play the boys basketball game tonight; therefore, boys basketball is cancelled. We will share additional updates as they are available.

Carthage ESD #317 Families: With another round of snow expected tomorrow afternoon, we want to give everyone a heads-up that an early dismissal may be possible. As always, the safety of our students and staff is our top priority. We will share updates as soon as we have more information. Thank you for staying prepared—please stay safe and stay tuned for further communication.

✨ IT’S TIME TO DIG THROUGH THOSE COUCH CUSHIONS! ✨ Our CPS Coin Drive starts tomorrow! Send in your pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters to help us reach our goal. Let’s see how much we can collect when we all pitch in! 💰💙 Thank you for supporting our school!

Carthage Primary Families:
Attached are our December Dress-Up Days! Students and staff are welcome to join in the fun. Participation is completely optional, but encouraged to help us spread a little holiday cheer throughout the month. We can’t wait to see all the festive outfits!

This message is to confirm the schedule at CMS will change slightly after Thanksgiving Break. This change is not perfect, but it is necessary to maximize student learning in ELA, Literature and Math. One or 2 periods will be effected per student. Students will get their new schedule on paper next week. For students whose teacher changes, their current grade WILL transfer with them to the new teacher. All students will remain with their current section, such as 6.1 or 7.2. Any questions should be directed to the building principal, Mindy Bockenfeld.

This is a message from Carthage Elementary School District. Just a reminder that there will be no school for preschool students tomorrow so staff can attend professional development. Thank you, and have a great day!

Reminder — CPS Donut Sales (for Carthage Primary students only) are due TODAY!
All order forms and money must be turned in this morning (Thursday, 11/13). If you forgot to send them with your student, you're more than welcome to bring them to the school or email them to pto@cesd317.org
. Thank you for all of your hard work selling and helping us raise money for our Primary School! Donuts can be picked up on 11/21 from 3–6 PM in the CPS Gym.

— Carthage Primary PTO

Good evening, this is a reminder from Carthage Elementary School District 317. There will be no school tomorrow, Tuesday, November 11, in observance of Veterans Day. Thank you to all of our veterans for your service. We look forward to seeing all students back at school on Wednesday.